Landmarks
Natural Plains of Barathrum - Blighted wasteland to the north of Rohall, formed at the end of the Second Age during the Upheaval. The decades-long eruption of newly-created Mount Korah vomited an indescribable amount of lava onto the surface, which flowed over the Worldspine and across thousands of miles of formerly verdant taiga, leaving nothing but slowly cooling igneous rock and dust. In the millennia since then, nature has taken root in some places but it is still a forbidding place mostly inhabited by the mad. Intrepid pioneers from Rohall have established heavily fortified towns to mine the plentiful and valuable exotic ores brought to the surface by the flow but they are few and far between and occasionally overrun by demons from the Interstice. Worldspine - A towering range of mountains separating Ancalamar and Haringia in the west from Ortugan in the east. Crossable only at four points, three comparatively narrow fortress-guarded routes and the northern Fuldarion Gap. The Gap of Fuldarion was formed during the Upheaval by a massive lava flow and remains barren to this day due to the high altitude and frigid northern clime. It is generally considered impassable due to both the conditions and frequent demonic encounters. The three southern routes are the Passes of Biniasz, Valen, and Sydan - each guarded at the western side by a massive fortress of the same name. These fortresses have stood mostly unconquered for thousands of years through numerous attempted invasions from the east. Interstice - A vast hole in reality in northern Ortugan formed after the impact of a massive meteorite, The Interstice provides a stable bridge to a dimension of horror that regularly permits armies of demons to enter Rakendawn. After the first incursion by these other-dimensional ravagers the nations of Ortugan, fractious before the Upheaval, banded together and constructed The Pristine Frontier to prevent these legions from ravaging the countryside. While demons continue to menace man and nature alike, the constant threat has had a dramatic stabilizing effect on the region. Skyway - The Skyway is a uniform kilometer wide 'road' that is suspended at roughly 5 miles above sea level that girdles the entire planet. As the Way itself is high enough that special measures are required to breathe at its height, it has only been sporadically explored and never colonized in any serious fashion. It is constructed of an amazingly resilient material that to this day defies both analysis and exploitation. Any portions removed, a feat possible only with the most extreme effort, become inert and nearly useless shortly thereafter. Damage done to the structure is self-repaired by a similarly unknown process in fairly short order. Shortly after the beginning of the Fifth Age, a hobgoblin terrorist group angered at the prosperity of Rohall and its moderately xenophobic policies, created a pair of massive explosions and caused an enormous section to fall into the city of Kinhaven on the southern coast of Rohall creating destruction on a scale not seen before. The damage has since repaired itself but the scars on Rohall and Kinhaven will likely never fade. Wailing Coast - The eastern edge of the continent of Ortugan is a singular soars hundreds of feet into the air for thousands of miles. While erosion has since worn away most of the strange rock formations that caused the eponymous wailing, the name remains and the eerie sound can still be heard in some areas. Similarly, numerous 'ramps' have been cut into the cliffsides to prevent it from being the barrier to travel that it once was. Mount Korah - A towering mountain in the center of the rolling hills of northern Ortugan, Mt. Korah was created when a massive meteorite struck Rakendawn and burrowed deeply into the crust. The resultant vast flows of lava created this new landmark quite rapidly in geological terms, rising to almost the height of the Skyway after only a few decades of near-continuous eruption. Other than the obvious climate disaster this impact and pyroclastic event caused, a stable portal to another dimension was also created. Horrors from beyond imagining slither through this portal whenever the lava flow abates, menacing the countryside of Ortugan. Additionally, through this portal a cloud of foul-smelling otherworldly ash continually flows, not hot as one might expect but cold, which has settled on the land for hundreds of miles in every direction. In addition to choking the land like a heavy silt the Taint, as it is called, also mutates unprotected plants and animals in unpredictable ways ranging from the subtle to the ghastly, but always foul in nature. Kokka Canyons - A series of winding river canyons which form the southern border between Ortugan and the "Goblinlands." These present a danger as all manner of ferocious creatures use this region to hide and hunt. While not wide, some are exceptionally deep and many have caves which are still not fully explored. The Dragon Clan stations a series of forts and bases to protect the border into Ortugan. Artificial Pristine Frontier - The greatest artificial structure on Rakendawn other than the mysterious Skyway, the Pristine Frontier is more than a kilometer high in some places and constructed entirely of an enchanted self-repairing white marble that repels the tainted gray silt that leaks out of the Interstice. Its ability to reconstruct itself requires magical assistance from it's guardians, unlike the entirely self-repairing Skyway it was modeled after. Maintained for millennia by the spells of the worshipers of J'Ormattis, since the Scathing it has begun to decay as arcane magic is not nearly as efficient at correcting the damage suffered during demonic attacks. Arn Biniasz - An enormous fortress more appropriately called a city this awe-inspiring edifice of black stone runs nearly the length of the Pass of Biniasz, the northernmost navigable route through the Worldspine. Initially constructed in the Second Age and continually improved since then by the neighboring nation of Rohall as a buttress against the demons and Tainted creatures of northern Ortugan. While its defenders are primarily dwarven, individuals of many races seeking Rohall Citizenship serve their entire Terms of Service there. It is a harsh post and fatalities are commonplace, but it remains the only Worldspine fortress to never have been fail in its duties. Arn Valen - The Pass of Valen is more appropriately called the river Valen, and Arn Valen straddles it at a comparatively narrow point before it opens up into the Valen river delta. Ships from it range all the way to Lake Kaolee in central Ortugan to interdict any would-be invaders of Haringia before they reach the walls of the fortification or escape into the Olaris Sea coast. Traditionally staffed by elves from Flaeaness, the Sons of Valen are known for their seamanship and keen marksmanship and still admired for their strongly adhered-to neutrality from world affairs. Arn Sydan - Arn Sydan was once a towering castle built into the wall of the Sydan Pass, discouraging numerous invasions from first the warlike nations of southern Ortugan and later the goblinoid incursions from Amman and Serovan. With the gradual cessation of the threat of outright military attack, it has fallen upon hard times and now is manned by only a skeleton garrison. The Sons of Sydan were once peerless cavalry troops and later pioneers in mechanized mobile warfare, stopping many invasions before they started and defeating larger ones with cunning maneuvers on the plains of Emlund and Cameleopardis.